Folding box



L. T. JACKS & T. W. BUSTIN.

' FOLDING Box.

APPLICATION FILED DECJQ. |913.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

3 SHEETS-*SHEET I.

ru: Nawms Ferns co., wam-umu., wasumcnw, 1:v c.

L. T. JACKS & T. W. BUSTIYN FOLDING BOX.

APPLICATION FILED nEc.19. 1913.

Patented Aug a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l.. T. JACKS L T. W. BUSTIN.

FOLDING BOX.

APPLICATxoN FILED 0m19.191s.

1 1 95,022. Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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"UNITED STATESv PATENT FFTQE.

LEEANDER T. rAcKs AND THOMAS w.y BUSTIN, or Primm, MISSISSIPPI.

FOLDING BOX.

Application led December 19, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LEEANDER T. JAoIIs and THOMAS W. BUs'rIN, citizens of the United States, residing at Pheba, in the county of Clay and State of Mississippi, have invented new and useful Improvements in Folding Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to boxes, and has for an object to provide a foldable box.

The invention contemplates, among other features, the provision of a box for use in transporting various articles from one place to another and during which transportation it is desired to retain the articles in good condition and prevent them from being broken or damaged Ain anymanner and wherein, furthermore, when the box containing the articles has reached its destination and the articles have been removed therefrom, the box can be arranged in knockdown and folded position so as to form a compact package which will take up very little room, thus permitting of returning the box to the owner and returning large quantities of the folded boxes. in more compact packages and in smaller spaces than if the boxes were returned without being folded or arranged in knock-down position.

A still further embodiment of the invention resides in a knock-down and foldable box consisting of sides,ends and a top and bottom, all of which can be relatively folded and which, when in relatively unfolded position, will present a structure of a neat appearance, and in the use of which, articles packed therein for shipment, will be well'protected and prevented from being damaged.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this speciication, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the box, showing the same setl up and ready for use; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view takenthrough the box, as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the box in knockdown position and before folding; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a box when knocked down and folded; Fig. G is a vertical sec- Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Serial No. 807,717.

tional view taken through the'box, as shown 1n Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a bottom plan View of the box when in unfolded and knockdown position, showing the relative arrangement of the strap members and links.

eferring more particularly to the views, We disclose a box 10 which can be arranged in a knock-down position and then folded to provide a compact package, the said box being formed to include a bottom 11, sides 12 and 13 and a top 14. Secured to the under side of the bottom 11 adj acent opposed edges thereof are strap members v15 and, similarly, strap members 16 are secured to the side 12 and have hinge connection, by means of links 19, with ends of the strap members 15 on the under side of the bottom 11. In a precisely similar manner strap members 18 are secured to the side 13 and have hinge connection, by means of links 17, with the other ends of the strap members 15 carried on the under side of the boti tom 11 so that it will be seen that the sides 12 and 13 are hingedly arranged with respect to the bottom 11 and can be swung from horizontal to vertical positions relatively to the said bottom. The top 14 also has strap members 20 secured to its under surface when assembled and by means of suitable links 21 the ends of the members 20 are swingingly supported with respect to the strap members 16 of the side 12, it being readily seen by referring to the views that the swinging movement of the top 14 will be greater than the relative swinging movement of the bottom 11 and sides 12 and 13, for a purpose that will be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

Suitable end pieces 22 are supported on f the inner face of the bottom 11 at opposed edges thereof, the said end pieces constituting supporting members and provided with recesses 23 registering with openings 24 formed in the bottom 11. Similar end pieces 25 are supported on the inner face of the top 14 and are provided with recesses 26 registering with openings 27 in the said top,

lthese endpieces being also adapted to constitute supporting members. The sides 12 and 13 have end pieces 28 and 29, respectively, secured to their inner faces adjacent opposed edges thereof and when the bottom, sides and top are laid out flat, as shown in Fig. 4, it will be seen that the end pieces along the same edges of the said bottom, sides and top will lie in the same plane,

while the side pieces on the opposite edges of the said bottom, sides and top will also lie in the same plane and will have their ends relatively adjacent. For this purpose, each of the end pieces 22, 25, 28 and 29 have their extremities reduced to provide seats 30 for the reduced extremities of adjacent end pieces and thus it will be seen that each end piece acts as a brace for the side, bottom or top carrying the same and whereby the sides, bottom and top can be relatively arranged to form the box.

End walls 31 and 32 are provided, with the end wall 31 adapted to be supported upon the bottom 11 and the end wall 32 adapted to be supported upon the top 14. This is accomplished by having each of the end walls provided with uprights 33 having their ends reduced and projecting beyond the edges of the end walls so vthat'the reduced ends of the uprights 33 on rthe end wall 31 can be fitted into the recesses 23 and openings 241 of the end pieces 22 and bottom 11, thus supporting the end wall 31 in a vertical position relatively to the bottom prior to assembling the parts of the box. In a similar manner the end wall 32 is supported on the top 14 by having the reduced ends of the uprights 33 thereof passing through the recesses 2G in the end. pieces 25 and the open ings 27 in the said top. When the side 12 is swung into vertical position relatively to the bottom 11 and the top 1% is swung into a horizontal position to lie over the bottom 11 the other reduced ends of the uprights 33 carried by the end wall 31 fit into the recesses 2G of the other end piece 25 on the top 14C, and, similarly, the reduced end of the uprights 33 on the end wall 32 will [it into the recesses 23 of the other end piece 22 on the bottom 11 and also extend into the openings with which the recesses 23 in the said end piece register, the said openings being formed in thebottom, as mentioned heretofore. lVhen the parts of the box are assembled, the end vwalls 31 and 32 will be supported in vertical position with respect to thebottom, sides and top.

The reduced ends of the uprights 33 are provided'withtransverse openings 34 adapted to register with openings 35 formed in the end pieces 22 and 25 when the reduced ends of the uprights extend into the recesses of ythe said end pieces to support the end walls in vertical position upon the bottom and top respectively and prior to assembling the'parts of the box. Hool'members 3G are mounted to swing upon the uprights 33 and are adapted to project through the registering openings 34 and 35, vthus more rigidly securing the end walls in their proper position with respect to the parts of the box upon which they are supported. As `a further meansfor properly supporting the end walls, members 37 are mounted to swing upon one of the end pieces carried by the bottom 11 and upon one of the end pieces carried by the top 14, and the free ends of the members 37 are provided with knobs 38, intermediate portions of the said members being arranged to slidably pass through staples 39 secured to the outer faces of the said end walls and whereby the knobs 38 of the members 37 will prevent disengagement of the members with the staples to permit a sliding movement of the members relatively to the staples, so that the end walls 31 and 32 will at all times be retained in engagement with the bottom 11 and top 14 respectively, and cannot be entirely disengaged therefrom, although there is sulicient play between the members 37 and staples 39 to permit of swinging the said end walls into vertical'or 'horizontal positions relatively to the said bottom and top and which carry the said end walls.

7e will assume that the vparts of the box are in the position shown in Fig. 4 and that it is desired to assemble the various parts of the box so that the same will appear as shown in Fig. 1. The end walls 31 and 32 supported upon the bottom and -top respectively have the reduced ends of the uprights on the end walls adapted to repose in the recesses and openings of one of the end pieces of each of the bottom and top `and the hook members 36, carried by the uprights, are engaged with the end pieces supporting the same, thus supporting the end pieces in. vertical position with respect to the bottom and the said top. rlhe side 12 is now swung into a vertical position, with reduced portions of the end pieces thereof fitting into reduced portions of the end pieces of the bottom. The top 14, swingingly carried by the side 12, is now swung into a horizontal position to lie over and in superimposed relation to the bottom 11 and thus it will be seen that the upper reduced ends of the uprights of the end wall 31 will engage one of the end pieces of the top, whereas the lower reduced portions of the uprights on the end wall 32 will engage the other end piece of the bottom 11 so `that the three sides of the box and top and'bottom will be relatively arranged to permit of swinging the side 13 upwardly into'vertical position and completing the'box,the'mentioned end walls'being securedwith respect to the'end pieces of the bottom and top by means of the hook members 36 as mentioned, it being understood that one set of hook members on the uprights of one end piece engage anend piece of the bottom, whereas the other set of hook members on the same upright ofV the same end piece engage the end piece of the top. When the box as now arranged has been iilled with the articles to be shipped or transported, the side 13 is secured in locked llU position with respect to the top by means of suitable locking members 40 mounted to swing on projecting ends of the strap members carried by the top, with the said locking member 40 having suitable slots 41 adapted to receive therethrough staples 42 carried by the side 13 so that pins 43 can be passed through the staples after the same have been passed through the slots 41 and thus rigidly lock the side 13 in closed position.

Then it is desired to arrange the boX in a knock-down position the side 13 is first swung downwardly to lie in the horizontal plane of the bottom and then after the hook members ofthe end wall 32, normally holding the end wall in engagement with one of the end pieces of the bottom, have been disengaged from the said end pieces and similarly the hook members of the end wall 31 have been disengaged from the end piece of the top, the said top together with the side 12 is swung downwardly to lie in the horizontal plane of the bottom. The end walls 31 and 32 are then arranged to lie flat against the bottom and top respectively, this being accomplished by simply removing the hook members of the end walls from engagement with the end' pieces of the bottom and top carrying the respective end walls, as shown in Fig. 4. The side 13 is now swung downwardly to lie beneath the bottom 11 and the side 12 is then swung downwardly to lie beneath the side 13 so that the top 14, having a greater hinge connection with the side 12 than any of the other parts of the box have with each other, can be swung upwardly to lie over and upon the bottom 11, with the end wall 31 lying between the said top and bottom, whereas the other end wall 32 will repose upon the inner face of the top. A suitable string or cord is now passed around the folded parts to rigidly hold the same together and prevent the sides, bottom, top and end walls from relatively disassembling.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a box is provided, which, when in use, will be of a strong and durable construction for safely and conveniently transporting and shipping articles from one place to another, whereas when the box is in knock-down and folded position the same will present a compact package and take up a great deal less room when shipped from one place to another or stored than if the boX were permitted to remain in its normal, unfolded or assembled position. Furthermore, it will be apparent that the boX consists of few parts, is of a simple construction and so arranged that it cannot accidentally collapse, while at the same time if certain parts of the box should be broken they can be replaced without necessitating any changes in the other parts of the box.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A box comprising hinged end and side walls, a top member and a bottom member each having secured to its inner surface at each end a strip arranged to engage the outer surfaces of said end walls, uprights secured to said end walls and each having its extremities reduced, one reduced eXtremity passing through a recess in the strip attached to said top member and an opening in said top member and the remaining eX- tremity passing through a recess in a strip attached to said bottom member and an opening in said bottom member, and a pair of hooks pivotally attached to each upright, each hook having a right angular eXtremity passing through a strip and engaging a reduced end of its associated uprights.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of t'wo witnesses.

LEEANDER T. J ACKS. THOMAS W. BUSTIN.

Witnesses:

T. J. MITCHELL, J. W. DUKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

